Do You Wanna Dance?

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Do you recognize the place in the photo above? I wrote about something that happened there almost 60 years ago. This week I return to my journal entries made 59 years ago to jog my memories of our younger days. Based on the journal entries and the memories of those thoughts which were included in "A Million Tomorrows...Memories of the Class of '64" these were my thoughts. Remember, most of the names of the real people were changed in my book, so don't try to match them with your real classmates.

Friday, April 3, 1964

94th Day - 272 days to follow

Rain

Finished up my term paper and turned it in today.  Went to Mullin's then home after we went to the cleaners and got my suit out.

Took a little nap and watched T.V. till 7:30 P.M. when Paul came by after me.  Jan was with him then we picked up Betty and Patty.  Went to the Coliseum.  They had a "Battle-of-the-Bands."   Four bands played:  "The Continentals", "The Tempests", "Jerry and the Ramrods", and "Tommy and the Playboys."  "The Continentals" got first place.

It was raining when we got out of the dance.  Went out to J's then Paul and I took everybody home.  Then me.  I got in at 1:25 A.M.

I'm beat.  I've been up past 12:00 P.M. everyday this week.  

It was Friday night and life was back to normal.  We had survived the first week back at school following spring vacation and it was time to party.  The crowd at the coliseum was rocking with four live bands.  A battle-of-the-bands was a relatively new idea for us and that was the biggest one Huntsville had ever experienced.  It was one dance with four bands competing for the favor of the crowd.  I don't remember what prize was being offered but each band wanted to win it.  I'm sure they were more interested in the glory of being the best than the prize.  If they could be voted the winner of the battle-of-the-bands then that would open up a lot more gigs for them.  More gigs meant more money, and more fame.  They all wanted to hit it big and cut a record which would launch their real trip to fame and fortune.

Given the right crowd, either band that played that night could have been selected the winner since each area and each school had its own favorite band.  It just so happened that the crowd voting that Friday night favored "The Continentals."  Either through good planning or just blind luck, "The Continentals" had band members from two of the three major high schools in Huntsville; therefore, both schools felt that they were their private band, and in the competition that night both school crowds supported them.

All the bands that competed that night were white bands, and all the people at the dance were white.  Rhythm-and-blues bands didn't play at white dances yet.  There had been one night when we had a black band come in from out of town for a dance.  No one knew they were playing until they got inside the door.  It was not just a "black band," it was one of the most famous black bands of the region in the early Sixties.  They gained their fame at the fraternity scenes at the University of Alabama, and other places like Auburn, the University of Tennessee, and Georgia.

"The Thirteen Screaming Niggers" had a catchy name.  If the white folks had laid that name on them they would have really screamed.  They played to the crowd's curiosity and stuck that name on themselves.  It was an interesting public relations trick.  The night they brought their wall of sound music to Bradley's Cafeteria they really had the group jumping.  The white bands that usually played for the Huntsville teenage dances each had four or five members at the most.  They had a lead guitar, a rhythm guitar, a bass guitar, and a drummer.  Some had a saxophone player.  Very few had lead singers who did nothing but sing.   This black group was very different.  It was rightly named, for they had thirteen members and each had an instrument and most of them vocalized.  The sounds that came from them put the white bands to shame.  Their name was a joke.  They laughed all the way to the bank with the white boys' money.  The white teenagers in Alabama really liked rhythm-and-blues music.  The parents thought all rock-and-roll was "jungle music."  If the parents had known there was a "colored" band playing the night we went, we wouldn't have been allowed to go.  Some of the parents would have gone instead, and not to dance.  Somehow the group was slipped in and the white crowd loved them.  The young ones loved them and their music, but once the word got out, for some reason, "The Thirteen Screaming Niggers" weren't allowed to play again.  

There were no black bands in the battle that night.  The songs of the night, the dance partners, the snacks I consumed are gray memories and just a part of a Friday night's memory that gets messed up with all the other Friday night dances.  Even though there was a battle going on up on the stage, the crowd down below was well behaved.  As for me, I was back to finding different girls for different dances throughout the night.  There was no permanent partner for me that night.  I had given up on my steady long before; lost out on my new love of my life, Marilyn; and now was back to playing the field.  As the music of the evening blasted in our ears, the night and the battle went fast.  With four bands, there was no waiting to dance, except for the few minutes it took one band to move its equipment off the stage and the next one to move on.  In those days, that didn't take much time.  It's not like today.  There were no stage crews and no fireworks or lasers.  It was all kind of plain, but the music was not plain.  It was good old rock-and-roll, and that's all the teenagers wanted.  An occasional slow song was worked in to give people a chance to move in closer to their dates.  Even rock-and-rollers still enjoyed that.  

No new love interests came from the dance that night.  The girls who went with us were safely deposited at home, and so was I.  I chalked off one more Friday night.  With the number of Friday nights I had left in Huntsville less than the number of fingers on my hands, I felt I had to make the most of them.  The calendar was not standing still so neither could I.

 Before anyone tries to play the race card on me about some statements in this reflection, I want to offer the following information taken from "The Atlanta Bands" facebook group concerning The Thirteen Screaming Niggers. Here is the link https://www.facebook.com/atlantabands/photos/jojo-and-the-thirteen-screaming-niggers-were-an-outrageously-named-band-that-fol/338914542834665/

JoJo and the Thirteen Screaming Niggers were an outrageously named band that folks just HAD to go hear and see perform. Crowds were not disappointed This band ROCKED!!!

The band played mostly university fraternity dances and private parties. Considering their name, colleges and universities would hardly sanction an official performance by this band. Yet crowds LOVED them.

They performed in the 60s, a time of unrest, political upheaval and racial injustice. The civil rights movement and anti-Viet Nam protests were peaking. Yet people from both sides of the political spectrum could unite for a night of fun and dancing and put their differences aside.

The band was a novelty, but their music and showmanship was fantastic. Considering the times, there were obviously snide remarks and racial slurs about the band. However when the band performed there was no face to face name calling, knifings, or shootings. At the band breaks and after their performance, the predominately white crowd would mix and mingle with black band members. They were united in the brotherhood of "soul music" and race did not matter. On THIS night, all were brothers.

Black musicians gained respect from thier white brotheren. Hand shakes and hugs were not uncommon. This was a precusor to modern day race relations where the color of one's skin did not matter. The important thing was a love of sweet soul music. Today's generation could learn a lot from the children of the 60s.

The Wayback Machine

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Once again I am going to ask Mr. Peabody (a.k.a. Amazon Alexa) to play me a song from those days and collect your thoughts about the song. 

So...Mr. Peabody, take us wayback. What is the first song you will play?

"In the Still of the Nite", also subsequently titled "In the Still of the Night", is a song written by Fred Parris and recorded by his band the Five Satins. While only a moderate hit when first released (peaking at No. 24 on the national pop charts), it has received considerable airplay over the years and is notable as one of the best-known doo-wop songs. It is heard in several films, such as The Buddy Holly Story, Dirty Dancing, and The Irishman.

Excluding Christmas records, "In the Still of the Nite" is one of only two songs (the other being “Monster Mash” by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers) to have charted on the Hot 100 three separate times, by the same artist with the same version each time. After initially reaching No. 24 in 1956, it was released again in 1960 and reached No. 81. Then more than a year later in 1961 it reached No. 99.

Editor's Note: This was not a song our local bands sang to my knowledge. It had come and gone several times before the teenage dance crowd started spending Friday and Saturday nights attending dances. Instead, it was more of a song I relate to the boy-girl parties popping up at differnt people's houses as we were entering puberty. It was often included in the stack of 45rpm records on a record player and was a favorite slow-dance song of many people. I can still close my eyes and remember dancing body-to-body with some of you in the dimly lit rooms in which we partied. 

Well, basketball's March Madness is over and it was a really weird year. Big teams were beaten by little teams and no one seemed to be able to correctly pick the winners.

I would like everyone to know that I personally do not have any connection with planning the Lee Lunch Bunch get-togethers but only serve as a source to get the word out. I have had several questions asked about attendance and refer the questions to those who have done the planning.

I am considering featuring some stories about some of the dance venues of our time in the future. If you happen to be one of the ones who never attended any of the dances, I hope you will still enjoy the memories of those who did.

Also, I keep getting the email to  susiesellshomes.com bounced back, so if this is your address or you know who it is, please update me. 

LEE LUNCH BUNCH

FOR THE CLASSES OF ‘64, ‘65, ‘66

CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2023

11:00 AM

Please save the date for our spring lunch and chat time for the beginning of the thirteenth year for Lee Lunch Bunch for the classes of ‘64, ‘65, and ‘66.

Carrabba’s is located on the upper parking level of Parkway Place Mall in Huntsville. We have reserved a limited space area for our group, so please do let me know asap if you will be coming. Most of the time in the past we have met on the last Thursday of April. That was not available this time, so it will be on the third Thursday of April instead. As always, place and space are issues, but we should have enough space at this restaurant for our group.

Please do let me know if you plan to be there.

Thanks! Patsy Hughes Oldroyd ‘65

H (256) 232-7583

C (256) 431-3396

keithandpatsy@att.net

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Last Week's Questions, Answers, and Comments

Linda Kinkle Cianci LHS ‘66, "Congratulations to Jim McBride on his induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. And thanks, Tommy, for sharing some of his songs. Living in Nashville and knowing several songwriters - some with big hits published and some not yet, I always enjoy hearing of those who achieve such an honor.  Thanks again, Tommy, for your dedication to the hard work of publishing this newsletter every week, even in the times of trial such as you are experiencing right now.  May God touch your body with swift and complete healing."

Cecilia LeVan Watson, LHS ‘68, "My Aunt introduced us to the wonderful Elvis music.  My Granny Tanner had a picture of Elvis in her bathroom. My cousins stood i line for hours to get her a ticket to see Elvis."

Jim McBride, LHS '65, "Hi Tommy, I'm writing to thank you and all the Lee High Generals who have been so supportive of me in my career. I've been blessed beyond belief from day one on this earth. Northeast Huntsville, Rison Elementary, Lee Jr. High, Lee High School and the friends and memories from those days are dear to my heart. How fortunate Jeanne and I are to have each other and the pleasure of sharing golden memories from our days in our favorite part of Huntsville, on every street, around every turn. We hope you are continuing to heal. God bless us every one."

Bob Pierce, LHS ‘64, "Ronnie Rogers, husband of Gail Woodard Rogers (1965) passed away last week. Prayers for Ronnie and Gail please. Also, well done Jim McBride, in good company say hi to EmmyLou."